Front Man Fail
by Ilovemyfandoms15
Summary: One minute and fifty two seconds. That's how long Neal had to convince the secretary to give him the itinerary... but what would've happened if he hadn't been able to? What if she was shot? This is my take on how the episode could've gone.
1. Chapter 1

(Neal POV)

"One minute fifty-two seconds and counting."

"Alright, I'm going!" Neal was frantic. As he ran across the street, his hands mindlessly rolled up his sleeves and took off his suit, making him seem a lot more casual and ruffled than his usual sleek and classy self. He did this without thinking, years of practice making it seem effortless to pick a cover story that could convince this woman to give up the itinerary. As he reached the door, his hand ran through his hair to make him seem a bit frazzled, and then he stepped through.

There was no one inside except for the red-haired secretary, Kathy. She seemed to ignore him entering, and continued to look at her computer screen. Neal took a deep breath and stepped forward. He had to do this quickly, as to let this woman get home to her kids that night.

This was why Neal had stopped working with Wilkes years before. After one con that they had done together, Neal had immediately realized that Wilkes was too gung-ho and liked his guns way more than what Neal was comfortable with. Just seeing him interrogate and threaten the curator at gun point was too much for him to handle. Even though he probably could have gotten the curator to tell him personally what the security code was by just talking to him, Wilkes insisted they do it his way, which was "more efficient". True, it saved them time, but the man's face had been so petrified and filled with terror that it haunted Neal for weeks after. So, Neal had stolen the painting and took off with the money. That was enough to let Wilkes know that their partnership was over.

So now, Wilkes had Neal just where he wanted him. His front man, having to do things his way, otherwise innocent people paid the price.

One minute and thirty-seven seconds.

Neal cleared his throat and stepped forward, flashing one of his signature "I'm just ran here but still look great" smiles at the lady. She barely looked up, clearly unimpressed.

So this would be harder than he thought.

"Hi there! How you doing?" He said a little breathlessly.

"I'm fine," with a quick look and short smile was all he got before her head went back down and she went back to her work.

So he'd have to do all the work here, then.

"My name's Nick Halden. I'm, uh, an assistant with Level One Concierge Services." He continued to beam at her, in the hope that she would cave a little and become a bit easier to work with.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen any time soon. Kathy glanced up again and replied, "How can I help you, Nick Halden from Level One Concierge Services?" That was a little too sarcastic to be a good sign.

Neal tried to keep it up and immediately responded with another cover story he had used ages back in a similar case to this. Well, except for the fact that he had to do this right otherwise this innocent-yet-rude lady would die within a minute and twenty seconds (roughly). "We got a big client coming to town; Thomas Loze. You booked his travel. I need to make a weeks worth of five-star dinner reservations, only I misplaced his itinerary. And I blow another account, I'm toast, so-" he paused to let her finish his thought.

"So it sounds like you need to find a new line of work, Nick."

Ok, not what he had in mind.

"Come again?"

She leaned back in her chair and took off her headpiece. "You know, people like you really piss me off. You waltz in here, you flash some sort of grin, and you think you can get me to do something that would get me fired?"

Well, at least she noticed that he smiled at her.

"I don't think so," she finished. "But have a nice day."

She leaned back again and replaced her headpiece, turning to go back to her computer when the red dot appeared on her forehead and lingered, staying with her whichever way she leaned.

One minute.

Seeing the light made Neal a little more desperate. She needed to start cooperating, otherwise she was going to get herself killed right in front of him. He knew that he would never be able to live with himself if that happened.

"Please, please, Kathy. I really need this, ok?"

"I said, have a nice day." She looked thoroughly done with him, and looked away from him to her computer screen.

Seeing her reject him just like that made Neal's eyes grow wide with worry. She was gonna kill herself if she kept at him like this! "Okay, okay," Yes, he sounded desperate, but he definitely was at this point. He walked back to the window where he could see the sniper clearly. Crap. That just made it all seem so much more real.

Thinking quickly, Neal decided to change his tactics from worried concierge to desperate father. "And that is exactly what I'm saying gonna tell my son when I explain to him why Daddy lost his job." Hopefully Kathy would be a little more caring if she thought he had a child to take care of back home. He kept going. "His daddy is a failure. I'm gonna level with you, Kathy. I don't enjoy catering to guys who spend more on a bottle of Courvoisier than I make in a year, but it's all I got. Who am I to think that I can do this job and raise a five-year-old all by myself?"

Kathy had glanced up at him now, with hopefully a little pity in her face. That was good, she was listening now, he had finally struck a similar chord with her.

Neal was rambling a little now, anything to get that ugly red dot off of her forehead. "And now I gotta tell Joey we're going back to Cedar Rapids," Kathy looked up fully at that, "it's gonna break his heart. But kids bounce back, though. You know, they're tough."

Thirty seconds.

Kathy leaned forward a little. "Cedar Rapids?"

Really? That's what she picked up from his heart-throbbing story?

He decided to go with it. Just a simple "Yeah."

"I'm from Iowa City. U of I, '88!"

Well, whatever worked. "No kidding," Neal responded with a fake laugh.

Kathy seemed to be smiling at her thoughts, which Neal took as a good sign. If she could just take their connection and get over the fact that she could lose her job, then she might just survive today.

Twenty-four.

She seemed to come out of her train of thought and leaned on her desk to say something. Neal sighed in relief. This was what he was talking about. Nobody had to die. She could now just give him the itinerary and nobody had to be the wiser. They could all make it out of this.

He plastered a smile on his face and leaned a little forward in anticipation.

She spoke, but this time with a sweeter tinge and small smile. "You know Nick, you're really one of a kind. You actually managed to change my opinion on guys like you."

Nineteen.

Neal smiled inwardly. This was going great. He tried to mask the relief in his voice and said, "Well, we're not all bad, you know."

Kathy sighed and leaned back in her chair. "But as much as I like you, Nick-"

Oh no.

"-I just can't give you this information without a sort of I.D. or thumbs up from Mr. Loze himself." She looked almost guilty.

Fourteen.

Neal's face paled slightly, and he whipped around to see the sniper lined up in position. He looked back at that menacing red light on Kathy's forehead. Then Neal did sometime that he'd never done in his life-ever. He begged.

"Kathy, I'm telling you, no, I'm begging you. You have to let me access his itinerary now! If I don't get this information, you- I mean I- won't live through this!"

Ten.

"Nick, I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll be able to get through this! I know someone like you will be able to find a job, or you could just smooth it over-"

Eight.

"Please! I need this information! It's a matter of life or death-"

Seven.

"Don't worry, it's not that bad-"

Six.

"Kathy! Just give it to me!"

Five.

"I can't do that, Nick."

Four.

"Just let me-"

Three.

"No! I'm sorry, but-"

Two.

"Kathy-"

One.

"KATHY!"

Suddenly the window crashed, and glass spewed all over the room. Kathy's head whipped backwards and her chair tipped backwards from the force of it, spilling her now lifeless body onto the floor.

Nicks eyes widened and he stumbled backwards in shock from the suddenness of it all. Sure, he had known it was coming if he failed, but he- he never failed.

And the one time it mattered, he'd broken that streak.

His hands shaking and clammy, Nick clambered back to his feet and stared in shock at the scene before him. A single hole in Kathy's forehead with a slight trickle of blood leaking from it was all that was different about her appearance from just ten seconds before. Her red hair was splayed behind her in a fiery mane, and her eyes stared unblinkingly at nothing.

Neal had never seen someone die up close before. Yes, he had seen some dead people in his time, but he always tried to stay clear of murders- or deaths in general. Of course it was inevitable in his line of work, but never had someone been gunned down so mercilessly from right in front of him. She was an innocent. She had a family. He had failed.

Neal stumbled towards her, his hands reaching out for a pulse he knew he would not find. He must have sat there for minutes on end when he numbly felt a rough hand on his shoulder, pushing him out of the way.

Neal came back to himself to realize that it was Wilkes. He had stepped over the body and was now immersed on the computer, scrolling through names. Neal glanced back down at Kathy. For once in his life he had no idea what to do. He was sure that he'd had a plan just minutes ago, something about contacting Mozzie- but now he couldn't recall anything. Everything was just a blur now, because all he could picture was that one moment. The moment when the glass shattered. When the bullet zoomed by. When the chair flipped backwards.

When she died.

A firm hand gripped Neal's arm, just below the shoulder and roughly hauled him to his feet. Neal registered that his eyes were still wide, his skin was still pale and clammy, and his mouth was open slightly. Quickly, Neal set out to remedy this.

Suddenly, next to his left ear, a voice whispered, "Nice going, Caffrey. This one's on you."

Immediately, Neal's hurriedly repaired outer expression and composure crumbled. Wilkes was right. Neal had failed, and someone had paid the ultimate price. He could feel that his breaths were coming short and rapid. He was hyperventilating from the shock. Wilkes seemed to notice this as well, and grinned.

"What? You never seen a little blood before, Caffrey? Get over it. You're working my way, now."

Wilkes' men grabbed Neal's arms from both sides and led him, stumbling, outside to the waiting silver van. The crowds in the busy Manhattan street were going crazy. Some people were running away from the scene, while others were simply confused, having not seen anything yet. Sirens were wailing in the distance, but Neal knew that he would be halfway across the city by the time they arrived. A woman screamed nearby, having seen the scene and Kathy lying on the floor, dead. This definitely drew more attention, which was Wilkes' sign that it was time to go.

A hand on the back of his head shoved Neal headfirst into the small space. Crashing on the floor, Neal rolled over and simply laid there. Not being too gentle about where they were stepping, Wilkes and one of his men clambered in alongside him. Again, Neal was pulled upwards and leaned against the back wall.

"So, after that little... fiasco, you think you're ready for round two?" Wilkes scoffed at him. His voice was still as smooth and controlled as ever, showing no sign that anything unusual had happened. Of course, for Wilkes, nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Not sure whether or not he could trust his voice yet, Neal's lips moved silently for a couple of seconds before he got out, "... There's no way I'm playing another round of your sick game, Wilkes. Never again."

Now Neal was getting mad. This was Wilkes' fault, not his. He would not be participating in one second more of this dangerous game.

Wilkes chuckled. "What, you can't stomach it, Caffrey? I didn't do anything back there except make good on my promise to you. You're the one who got that nice lady killed." As Wilkes spoke, he drew out each word, while leaning down slowly to get to Neal's eye-level. "As for round two, maybe you need a little 'break' to see what you're really working for here."

Wilkes abruptly straightened up and stalked to the other side of the van. "Tase this man again," he said to his thug next to him.

Neal flinched and tried to scoot backwards. "No, that's really not nece-" he couldn't finish, because then the taser hit him in the arm. He let out a small unintelligible objection, and then the world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

(Peter POV)

Twelve hours.

That's how long Neal had been missing. Since then, Peter had gotten about one-and-a-half hours of sleep total, spending all his time in the office. They'd gotten no word of his whereabouts, and the only lead they had was a video of the kidnapped girl in a warehouse by a body of water.

Peter put his head in his hands. This was all Agent Rice's fault. She had been stubborn and stupid to take Neal for her investigation, and then not even use him in it. The she had been just plain idiotic when she believed sending Neal in alone for a "meeting" with Wilkes without his anklet was a good idea.

Now Neal was in the hands of someone who wanted him dead- a very dangerous someone who could quite possibly make him dead.

Peter stifled a groan. "Man... I really need a coffee right now."

Just then Jones burst into his office. "Peter! We have a sighting on Neal... you'd better come see this."

The slight hesitation in his sentence made Peter practically jump from his seat and book it to the main conference room. Inside a dozen other agents including Hughes, Lauren, and Rice were all sitting or standing around the table. Peter looked up to the screen and saw a picture of Neal, looking slightly ruffled, standing in front of a desk in a small building.

Immediately Peter walked over and took a seat at the table. "What've we got, Hughes? Please, give me some good news right now."

Hughes sighed and looked down. "Well, Peter, I think I'd be better off just letting you watch..." he paused. He opened his mouth to say something else, seemed to think better of it, and pressed play.

The video started over from the beginning. It looked like it was the security footage from a travel agency building. The red-haired secretary was just barely visible on screen, and all you could hear was the tapping of her fingers on the keyboard. Neal came into view just outside the door, seemingly from a run, and ruffled his hair and pulled on his shirt a little. He then pulled open the door and walked in.

They started talking, Neal trying to convince the secretary that he needed a certain "John Loze's" itinerary for a flight. The lady kept refusing, and as the seconds ticked by, on-screen Neal began to grow more and more frantic. At one point he stalked over to the window and stared up at something on the other side of the glass before hurriedly returning to the conversation.

"Alright, people, this is where it gets even more intense," stated Hughes. He'd obviously watched this before.

Peter couldn't take his eyes off the screen. He was searching for something- anything- that would give him a clue to why Neal was acting this strangely. Obviously Wilkes was involved, but was he threatening Neal's life? Lindsay's?

On-screen Neal started to grow desperate after the secretary- "Kathy" - refused him once again. Then he started to beg.

Peter's eyes widened slightly, and he leaned forward to catch every detail he could. Neal was full on begging, almost to the point of shouting at the lady, while she in return was trying to console him for not getting it.

"Kathy-" on-screen Neal said one last time before-

"KATHY!"

CRASH

The windows in the building shattered and Kathy tipped backwards, while Neal stumbled backwards and fell, just barely holding onto a desk to keep him fro going all the way down.

Peter, along with half of the other agents in the room jumped to their feet when this happened. Peter knew that he was overreacting, but he couldn't help himself. He was growing mad, mad at Wilkes for making Neal do this, mad at Rice for getting him taken in the first place, mad at himself for letting it happen.

He watched, fuming, as Neal shakily got to his feet and stumbled towards what must be the dead body of Kathy. This brought him out of view of the camera, but since Hughes didn't pause the video, Peter knew there was more to come.

Sure enough, about ten seconds later, a man who Peter could only assume was Wilkes with a few cronies stepped in. Wilkes brusquely stepped forward and out of view for a moment until he reappeared in the same position that Kathy was in at the beginning. He started typing and clicking at the computer, until he seemingly finished. The printer could be heard in the background, so Wilkes now most likely had the itinerary.

One of the thugs stepped forward and pulled a recovering Neal forward. Neal did seem to have regained his composure, back to his cool and collected self. Wilkes worked his way back into view of the camera. He leaned towards Neal and whispered something into his ear, and suddenly Neal was trembling all over again, now on the verge of hyperventilating. Wilkes smiled and said something else that couldn't be heard over the buzz of people outside. Then the thugs grabbed Neal by his arms and lead/dragged him outside. Just visible by the camera, Neal was shoved roughly into a silver van, followed by Wilkes and another guy. The door was slammed shut, the other crony hopped in the front, and the car took off.

The video ended.

Peter stood slowly, not daring to look at anyone, especially not Rice, in fear that he would be unable to stop himself from throwing himself at her and attacking. He could tell that all eyes were on him- after all, he was the one closest to Neal. Finally, Peter managed to get some words out.

"Did anyone on the scene see a license for the van? Or where it went?"

Immediately there were murmurs around the table, trying to find an answer. Jones spoke up. "No, the license was covered in tape, and the car got lost in the traffic." When he saw Peter's barely controlled expression, he hurriedly continued. "But we were able to get access to the same itinerary that Wilkes has, so we can set up and be there the same time as them."

Peter swallowed back his anger and reached up to scratch the back of his head. "Ok. It's better than nothing, let's work with it. You guys get started on the setup, I'm going back to my office." He just managed to get out of there and into his own office before red clouded his vision and he bit down a frustrated yell. Peter knew that he needed to calm down, because he wouldn't be able to get anything done while he was upset.

Just then the phone rang, and he picked it up to a familiar voice that calmed him down instantly.

"Hey Hon!"

"El, hi. What's going on?"

"Peter," her voice rang through the phone, "um... Mozzie's here, and... He says he wants to see you."

Her voice paused, and he could hear some talking in the background. "No, he says he needs to see you, along with those videos that you've gotten? Does that make sense?"

Peter sighed and scratched his forehead. "Tell him that if he wants to watch them, he'll have to come to the station himself."

Apparently the phone was on speaker, because in the background Peter could hear Mozzie's short bark of incredulous laughter. Elizabeth's voice came back on.

"Yeah right, Mozzie in the FBI office? I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. Can you please come here?" Peter could here the puppy dog pleading in her voice.

Well, thought Peter, I needed to calm down and get away anyways.

"Okay, El. I'm coming." He hung up the phone and grabbed a copy of the hostage video. Now to ask Hughes for the one of Neal...


	3. Chapter 3

(Neal POV)

Neal was feeling pretty lousy. He could feel every tiny bump that the car made, and it was giving him a headache. He tried to sit up, but quickly realized that that made it worse. Noises were drifting through the air, but he couldn't quite understand them yet. The van came to a stop suddenly, sending Neal crashing to the far wall. Then he was none too gently hauled to his feet and dragged outside.

With only one eye cracked open, all Neal could see was a dark warehouse (like he didn't see that coming) made of brick that was damp and smelled like mold. Neal could vaguely hear waves crashing and the horn of a tugboat in the distance, but that was all he got location wise.

The two burly guys from behind him shoved him forward. When Neal recovered, he felt the cold, round, and metal point of a silencer from a gun on his back. He grimaced. He hated guns with all his heart. They were too violent, too... messy. They...

And that's when he remembered what had happened.

Oh no.

He had killed someone.

Well, it wasn't technically him, anyways.

But still.

It was all his fault.

Neal looked up to realize that they'd traveled from the area the car was in and he hadn't paid attention. Great. That's what he got for feeling guilty. He couldn't focus on that now, so he'd have to push those thoughts aside.

The room that they entered had a table in the middle with a lot of Chinese food on it, and a heavy bald guy sitting at it. Then Neal looked over and saw the girl. So that must be Lindsay. The guys behind him roughly grabbed him and shoved him down next to her. He landed kind of on his face, which was embarrassing. She immediately scrambled over to him and helped him up.

"Hey," she whispered urgently. "You okay?" Her brown hair was a little ragged, and she seemed tired and a tiny bit scared, but she held herself with a confidence and defiance that made Neal smile to himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Neal replied. He suddenly realized how bad he must've looked (at least, in his standards). "Listen, I'm here to help you. I'm with the FBI."

Lindsay looked unconvinced. "And who's gonna help you?"

Good point.

"Uh... yeah, not the greatest rescue, I know."

"But the FBI knows we're here, right?"

Dang it. She was making him look even more like a failure.

"Well, no. But their best agent is looking for us. Trust me, if anyone can find me, it's him."

Lindsay looked hopeful, if a little intrigued. "Really?"

Neal have her a reassuring nod, then glanced behind her at the heavy goon who was slurping away at his noodles. "Good manners," he commented sarcastically. And then, as another insult, "You know, you should chew your food!"

Lindsay stifled a giggle and whispered to Neal, "Foul, right? He burps when he swallows!"

He looked at her approvingly. "Nice," he said.

The door burst open just then to reveal none other than Wilkes himself- with a couple of giant men behind him, of course.

Wilkes walked up to the two of them, his eyes never leaving Neal. "Well, Caffrey, you almost blew round one." Neal stiffened at that and almost let forth an inhuman growl. He didn't, but only because he's Neal Caffrey. Wilkes continued, "Luckily for you I was still able to get in there and get the information I needed. Otherwise the consequences would have been... severe."

Neal scoffed. "Well, that's just great. Now that I'm off the hook and you've gotten your info, I can just relax all day with my pal Lindsay here."

Wilkes smirked. Neal didn't like that. "Oh, there are still gonna be consequences. But since you only partially failed, she's-" he indicated Lindsay with a jerk of his chin "-gonna be the one to get them."

Lindsay's face paled considerably and Neal jumped to his feet with his hands splayed out in front of himself, as if to ward them off. "No," Neal stated firmly. "I was the one who failed, so take it out on me, not her."

"Neal," Wilkes slapped a hand on Neal's shoulder as if they were old buddies. "If you do something wrong, you gotta learn the hard way not to do it again. Otherwise you could be tempted to do the same thing again." The hand on Neal's shoulder shook him once, almost playfully, and then shoved him to one side, making him lose his balance.

He had to save this girl from any pain. This couldn't be like Kathy all over again. This would not be his fault.

"No, whatever you do, do it to me. I don't care, just leave her out of this."

The two thugs came out of nowhere from behind Neal and grabbed his arms so that he couldn't move. As much as Neal struggled and kicked, he couldn't get them off of him. Wilkes traveled behind them lazily and grabbed ahold of Lindsay's arm. She cried out and struggled in his grip, but it was vice like. Neal was turned around to view them and shoved on his knees, being held in place.

"See Neal, this is gonna be our deal," Wilkes said. Lindsay continued squirming in his grip while Neal remained pinned in place. "Every time you screw up a little bit, each time you make a mistake, Lindsay here is gonna pay the price. Of course it'll depend on how big a mistake it is, but you get the picture. Now, if you completely fail, or refuse to do what I ask, you're gonna take the punishment, and she's gonna die. Are we cl-"

SMACK

Lindsay's free arm swung around with surprising power and clobbered Wilkes in the ear. He cried out and released her, but only since his ears were now ringing. One of the cronies holding Neal released his arm and quickly restrained Lindsay, pinning her arms behind her back. Neal's free arm immediately swung for his own thug, but was caught and restrained by the fat bald thug who had been eating Chinese.

Wilkes angrily straightened up and stormed over to Lindsay.

"I was only gonna break a finger, but this is what you get now!"

Lindsay's arm was straightened out, and she struggled in vain to get loose again.

"NO!" Neal yelled, realizing what was going to happen.

Wilkes' foot swung down on top of the arm...

(Peter POV)

Peter parked his car outside of his home and wearily got out, feeling his eyes droop with fatigue. He reached back inside the car to grab the two copies of the videos and paused. Hopefully Elizabeth and Mozzie wouldn't react too badly when they watched what was on them. Sure, they had each been through a lot and experienced a lot before, but... But this was personal. This was Neal, whom they were very close with. He knew from personal experience that watching someone else go through something hard was sometimes much harder than going through it yourself.

Shrugging, Peter resumed retrieving them and walked to the door. They had asked to see them-well, Mozzie had- so, Peter would let them watch them. And besides, he could use an extra pair of outside minds to examine the footage.

As soon as Peter opened the door, El was all over him with questions.

"Did you bring them? Are there any updates? Do we know how Neal is doing? Can you put the videos in?" She answered the first and last question for herself, for when she spotted them she practically ripped them out of his hands and ran to the TV.

Unsurprisingly, Mozzie was sitting on their couch, seemingly calm but deep in thought as he sipped from his glass of wine procured from who knows where (Peter only ever drank beers, so it must've been from Elizabeth's stock). Moz apparently was too occupied to notice Peter until he sat down beside him.

"AAAH!" Mozzie shouted suddenly, making Peter jump back up in alarm, looking for the source of the thing that made him scream like that. But Mozzie just blinked once- twice- and looked up at Peter with surprise. "Oh, hello Suit. When did you get here? I was just going through my thoughts and memories on Wilkes, but I don't have much. I assume you brought the videos?" he said, just as El got it all hooked up and the screen came to life with the picture of Lindsay.

"Ah. Perfect." Mozzie took a sip of his wine.

Peter incredulously looked back and forth from Moz to El in disbelief, but his wife just shrugged and hurried back to take a seat on the other side.

Peter took his time and carefully lowered himself onto the couch. Looking over for a reaction from the small man, he finally determined it safe, took a seat, and pressed play.

The video of Lindsay talking to her father had no effect on Mozzie or Peter, but he could feel Elizabeth tense up as she watched it.

Peter comfortingly put his arm around her and gave a gentle squeeze, which she returned.

Mozzie seemed to be trying to analyze it, his brow furrowing in concentration. After it finished playing, Mozzie gave a slight "aha" and turned to say, "She's near water."

Peter grunted a little and mumbled, "Tell me something I don't know."

"Oh." Mozzie shrank back a little before turning a little and saying, "But, did you know that it's in a little community of buildings that are all pretty much the same in structure?"

This made Peter turn. "How do you know that?"

Mozzie shrugged. "If you really listen, you can tell from the echoes of the tugboat sound that it bounces and is reflected off of many buildings in the same area. For ears like your own, I'd suggest slowing down the sound and isolating it to pick it up."

Realizing that his mouth was agape, Peter snapped it shut and shook his head. "Well, Moz, I'll take your word for it. I'll tell the Bureau as soon as I get back."

Elizabeth quickly changed out the dvd for the flash drive containing the security footage of Neal. As this picture popped up, both Mozzie and El sat forward in expectation.

Peter cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uh... I, uh, have to warn you that this one is a little more... intense than the last one..."

Mozzie shushed him and pressed play. "Oh please, Suit. If I thought I couldn't handle it, I would've never asked you."

"...well, I think you still would've, since you don't trust the Bureau to do anything right."

"Touché."

"Moz, Peter, quiet!"

The video started just as Peter remembered, with Neal running up the the building.

"What's he doing?" Elizabeth questioned, but was shushed again by Mozzie.

Elizabeth questioned again and again what was happening, but when the resounding crash occurred and Kathy's chair tipped over, the room became silent as they watched a trembling Neal, along with Wilkes who showed up.

"So they weren't threatening Neal or Lindsay," Elizabeth said softly. "That's why Neal became so desperate. Has... has he ever seen something like that before?"

Peter stopped to think about that. He'd never considered that something like this might damage Neal more on the inside than on the outside. "No," he answered, so softly that Mozzie and El had to strain to hear him. "Not that I know of."

"Suit," Mozzie interrupted, "Neal tries to stay clear of all violence, especially murder- just death in general. He's a great conman, so he'll be able to hide what he's feeling, but... I don't think that Neal is prepared mentally for this. It could shock or damage him."

And with that, the room fell silent.

(Neal POV)

Neal felt awful.

Lindsey was trying her best, and was actually managing to keep strong, even though every movement of her wrongly-bent arm elicited a small hiss of breath or a stifled yell. But when she sat normally, she glared at the fat guy so hard, a hole was going to start to form in the back of his head.

She didn't blame Neal at all, which made him feel a little better, but that didn't stop him from blaming himself. Every time he glanced at her cradling her arm, a fresh wave a guilt swept over him, along with a tiny bit of nausea. Right after Wilkes broke Lindsay's arm, right after her terrible, drawn out, scream, the first thing that she had done was roll over and throw up. And Neal couldn't blame her. He wouldn't admit it, but he was seriously considering doing the same thing. It was just bent so... wrong.

So after one final kick-to-the-ground goodbye to Neal, Wilkes and his men had sauntered out. Neal had scrambled over to Lindsay, eyes wide and stammering his apologies over and over again. Tears had leaked out of her eyes as she tried not to pass out.

It had gotten better, and she had propped herself against the wall and now was trying to get some seriously needed sleep. Neal had his arm around her, eyes closing from exhaustion while Lindsay slid down from the wall onto the floor. Her eyes finally closed for good, and she began to breathe deeply and evenly, with the occasionally cringe from jostling her arm.

Neal couldn't bring himself to look at her. He felt like such a failure.

This was almost definitely what Wilkes wanted, for Neal to blame himself. But he couldn't help it. First Kathy, and now Lindsay. Every time, all Neal wanted to do was to protect them, but all he managed to do was kill one and break the other. Of course, Lindsay was still very strong-willed and determined, but that didn't make Neal feel better about himself. He kept telling himself that this was Wilkes' fault, that he did this, but even Neal couldn't con himself to believe that. It was his fault that they both suffered.

All his fault.

Abruptly, the door opened and in stepped Wilkes, accompanied by his ever present two cronies. They made their way across the small room, and Wilkes crouched in front of Neal.

"So," Neal started, "are you here to break the other arm? Because Lindsay told me to tell you that that wasn't cool."

A ghost of a smile passed over Wilkes' face as he responded, "I'm sure she did. Actually, I'm here for part two of our operation. You didn't think you'd get out of it, did you?"

That was exactly what Neal had been hoping, but he didn't let it show.

"So, are you in? Because, if not, I would be fine in breaking the other arm, as well as yours- to begin with, of course."

Neal glanced down at the peaceful form of Lindsay. As much as he didn't want to leave her here alone and do Wilkes' dirty work, he also didn't want to be responsible for another injury.

Sighing, Neal put out his hand and Wilkes hauled him up. "I guess I'm in for another round."

Wilkes clapped him on the back. "I always knew you were smart, Caffrey. I knew that you'd come around with the right incentive. And we've finally found it, haven't we, boys?" The men around the room chuckled on command, and Wilkes flashed a smile. "Come on," he gestured for Neal to follow him.

They walked from the room, traveling through hallways and once even stepping outside before entering another similar building. This one, however, contained the same van from before, as well as another one. The new van was painted a deep navy blue, with an electricity company logo on the outside.

As he was pushed toward the van, Neal felt himself tense up a little. Of course it didn't show on the outside, but he felt his muscles clench up in anticipation. Each time he went in the van, he got tased.

Getting tased hurt.

A lot.

Then Neal reprimanded himself. He could take a little electricity! Be a man, and take it like one. If anything, Neal told himself, he deserved to be hurt. This sobered him up. Yes... He deserved what was coming to him. He'd caused so much pain, and death... this was only fair.

Nobody else needed to suffer.

Just him.

Of course, he'd prefer not to get hurt, but if anyone deserved it, it was him.

So Neal clambered into the blue van. The interior was practically the same, so he took up the spot in the middle and slid down.

This drive, however, he wasn't tased.

He'd almost been anticipating it.

Instead, Wilkes provided him with a fresh suit jacket, shirt, and tie, and briefed him on what he was going to do. Neal nodded in all the right places and was fine with everything until Wilkes handed him the gun.

"No. Absolutely not."

Wilkes just stared. Neal was wondering if Wilkes was going to punch him, shoot him, or both, when Wilkes just rolled his eyes and started taking out all of the bullets. "There. Are you satisfied now? Just hold the gun up to his back or head or whatever and get the case for me. Capiesh? He doesn't have to know that your gun isn't loaded, so you can 'feel good about yourself' or whatever. Just get it done."

Neal mutely nodded and took the empty piece, tucking it into his waistband expertly. As he moved to get out of the van, Wilkes stopped him once more.

"Oh, and Caffrey. The Feds are probably here right now. See, I know you were all comfy with them in the past, but for this operation, you're not going to make contact. At all. And just to insure that," he gestured to his two cronies to get out, "these two are gonna be inside. And I'll be outside watching your every move."

Well crap.

Neal had been hoping that Wilkes would over-estimate Peter and assume that they weren't here, or at least not be supervising him. Outwardly, Neal took all this info resolutely, with just his lips tightening slightly. Inwardly, Neal started to calculate all of the different ways that he could subtly pass a message to Peter. He could still pull this off.

Again, Neal went to climb out, and again, he was stopped. "What now, Wilkes? I'm pretty sure I can handle this without a hitch."

A corner or Wilkes' mouth twitched. "I'm sure you can. In fact, I think you're so good, that you'll manage to pull this off, leave your handler a message, and dupe my guys while you're at it. Which is why they won't be following you everywhere."

Neal's heart skipped a beat.

"They'll be following Peter."

No...

"So," Wilkes continued. "With that in mind, you're gonna take this," he handed Neal an earpiece, "and this," a small camera to go with his tie clip, "and be a good con-man and go get me that case. And remember, anything goes wrong, your camera goes out, you turn your head in the wrong direction, I don't care what, and my guys will shoot Peter. And then we'll break Lindsay's other arm, just for good measure."

Neal was shaking, trying to control his emotions. He trembled furiously, and found it extremely difficult to try and stop himself. Wilkes had pretty much just said checkmate in Neal's mind. Wilkes had known that whatever he did, Neal would still try and slip out of it.

But not with Peter.

He would not let the next person to die be Peter. Lauren, Jones, Elizabeth... yeah, even El... Would all blame him for Peter's death. He would blame himself as well.

But Neal knew that that wasn't the real reason why he couldn't let Peter die.

Peter... Wasn't like anyone else. He could trust Peter. He cared about Peter in ways that he couldn't care about anyone else- not Mozzie, not even Kate. Peter was... well... Neal had come to think of him as the only father figure in his life. Peter was his best friend.

So Neal subconsciously decided that he would do whatever Wilkes told him to.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay... can I just say... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! When I started this story, I'd just been writing it for fun, and I didn't expect any views because a). It was my very first time and b). White Collar's been over for a while... but this outcome has been AMAZING! Seriously, over a THOUSAND FREAKING VIEWS!? You guys are awesome :) Special Thanks to my 7 reviewers, my 14 followers, and my 3? favorites (I'm too lazy to go and check to see how many). It makes me so happy to see people from all over the world reading this. Much much much love for you all:) :) :)**

 **Okay. There was my little paragraph of excited-ness. Seriously though. You're awesome.**

 **Well, I'm sorry for the wait (School SUCKS), but here's the next chapter!**

 **P.S. When I started this, I literally just had the first part of Kathy being shot planned out, so I honestly had no idea where this was going, which was another reason why this is so late... I'm not one of those authors who plans 6 books ahead. I'm kinda just going by my feelings, so... If you guys have any suggestions of what direction you want this story to go in, feel free to let me know because I could really use the ideas. Thanks! Hope you like it :)**

 **P.P.S. I really suck at writing from Peter's point of view so I made it really short lol**

 **(Peter POV)**

 **One hour earlier**

"All right people! Spread out across the area, and keep all eyes open for signs of either John Loze, Wilkes, or Neal. Remember, NO ONE, I repeat, NO ONE is allowed to approach Neal, or anyone else, without radioing me first. Now let's move!"

The small team of FBI agents all jogged out to find their positions, and left Peter standing with just Jones in a closed off room in the airport. Jones let out a small sigh and clapped Peter once on the shoulder.

"We're gonna get him back, Peter." Jones spoke softly, in a reassuring tone.

Peter nodded stiffly. Jones stared at him for a moment, and then sighed and walked out of the room. Peter was unsure of what to do. He'd been so focused on everyone else being fully prepared and ready, that he had no idea what he himself was going to do. What would Neal say to him? What would he say to Neal? What if Neal wasn't even there? So many options were completely possible, and yet Peter had a feeling that Neal would be the one to show. Wilkes was too prideful to do his own work; proud that he could get the famous Neal Caffrey to do it for him. Yes, Neal would be the one to show.

Luckily for himself, Peter thought, Neal would have a plan. He always did.

And Peter would be there to help him execute it.

 **Neal POV**

Neal stepped into the airport, casually checking his cuffs and straightening his tie. Looking around, he could already see 3 agents who were not doing a very good job of blending in. Neal wanted to test his limits with the tie clip camera before he got started, so he slowly reached up to the side to scratch at his ear.

"Caffrey, I can see you're moving your arm up. You can do that again if you want... just know that I'll be generous, and have my boys make Peter's death quick. No pain, you know? Maybe we'll even chip in to give him a nice funeral."

Neal's jaw clenched and un-clenched while Wilkes spoke. Normally he was the picture of cool in situations like this. No one could make the famous Neal Caffrey tick. At least, not until this moment- and Kate, of course.

"Ok, Caffrey. Loze's information says that he'll be coming out of the exit on the west side of the building, so start walking." Neal's feet unconsciously started moving, his eyes darting back and forth from the FBI agents, his head not moving at all. "His plane is landing right now; he'll be out in about twenty minutes. Be there when he exits."

Neal's response was immediate. "And what about the Feds all around me? How do I avoid them if they come up to me? You know they will," he added ruefully.

"You'll figure something out. You always do," Wilkes stated. Neal could almost hear his smirk as he spoke. Picturing it just made him scowl. He glanced around and saw the agents talking not-so-inconspicuously into their watches and glancing his way. Neal was going to have to have a talk with Peter about subtlety. This was really embarrassing for the agency.

And speaking of Peter...

Neal walked into the next room and there he was. Standing on the opposite side next to the door. Neal could tell that he was anxious by the way he kept swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet, and his hands kept flicking to and from his gun and his hips. Without thinking, Neal immediately started towards Peter as he quickened his pace.

And just as quickly stopped. The two thugs who had accompanied Neal in the van were standing off to one side, casually chatting to each other as they stood by the wall. They were doing a much better job of blending in than Peter's men were, since neither Peter nor any of the other agents seemed to notice them.

Neal didn't realize how long he'd been motionless until Wilkes voice sounded again. "Come on, Caffrey! We haven't got all day, so move." Neal hesitantly took a step forward, and then shook his head and started again. He'd figure out a way to get past Peter... probably. He had the whole walk across the room to figure out what to do.

And then suddenly, he didn't.

Peter looked straight at him, and broke into a grin of relief.

Neal only wished he could return it.

As Peter made his way towards him, Neal felt his stomach clench up as the two men also casually followed him over, never looking straight at Peter. Neal forced himself to continue walking, and to not look Peter in the eye. This was going to be tough.

It was too soon in Neal's eyes when Peter was suddenly _right there_. Neal had been looking downwards and glanced up suddenly when Peter grabbed his arm and said excitedly, "Neal?"

He was frozen. Honestly, he felt like a deer in headlights in this position. If he said anything, Peter could be shot. If he moved wrong, Peter could be shot. And if he didn't do anything, didn't move, he was sure Wilkes would be mad for him not getting to Loze, or being too obviously uncomfortable, and... Peter could be shot. His other options included just ignoring Peter and continuing forwards, which would let Peter know something was obviously wrong, but Wilkes was very unpredictable... And could have Peter shot.

All of these thoughts went through Neal's mind in a few seconds as he stared into Peter's concerned gaze. And then Wilkes interrupted.

"Tell him hi. Go ahead, I promise they won't shoot."

Neal tensed, but compliantly said, "Hi Peter." His stance was stiff, his voice clipped and short. His hope was that Peter would realize something was off and stand down, but Peter seemed too overjoyed to be seeing Neal again that he sighed in relief, didn't notice anything, and gave Neal a bone-crushing hug. Neal was stunned. He awkwardly returned it and stepped back, but not before Wilkes' voice sounded once again.

"Neal..." It said warningly. For a moment Neal panicked, thinking that the tie camera had been damaged in the hug, but then the voice continued on. "I need you to get rid of him. Without giving anything away. You seem to be good at lying, so I'd suggest you do some more right now."

Peter was in the meantime looking up and down at Neal, looking concerned. "Neal, are you all right? You look fine, but has Wilkes done anything? Have you seen Lindsay? Neal?"

Neal inwardly calmed himself. In order to save Peter's life, he needed to be completely relaxed in order to pull off this performance. That's all it was. Acting. Improv.

Neal inhaled.

Exhaled.

And started talking.

"Sorry, Peter," he said easily. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. You managed to get the flight itinerary too?"

Peter visibly relaxed. "Yeah, it wasn't that hard. What's up with this Lose guy anyway? Do you know why Wilkes wants him?"

"His name is Loze, and no, I'm just supposed to pick up a package once he's off the plane. But Peter, Wilkes does have Lindsay, and I don't want anything to happen to her. I know for a fact that I'll be able to pull this off, but I need to be separate from the Feds."

Come on Peter. Figure out that something's wrong.

Peter just nodded in understanding. "Are you sure? Do they have eyes on us now?"

Neal could've internally face palmed. It was so ridiculous how his and Peter's relationship worked. Whenever Neal didn't want Peter to figure out something, Peter could immediately tell that he was lying. And then the one moment Neal _wanted_ Peter to be suspicious, he was clueless.

Well, fine then.

At least Peter would be safe.

All of this went on inside of Neal, but the only factor that could be seen on the outside was a slight twitch of his jaw. He replied, "Yes, and if I'm seen with you for too long it could be disastrous for Lindsay."

 _And you_.

Neal shook his head a tiny bit to clear his thoughts and continued. "I need to go soon. I can do this, Peter. I know I can, but I can't have the FBI watching my back every second of the way or Lindsay will die."

Peter just stared at Neal for a second. He then scratched the back of his head and slowly nodded. "Ok, Neal.

"I trust you."

The knife that had been slowly digging into Neal's side now plunged in completely. Peter trusted him, and Neal had been lying the whole time.

No, he couldn't think like that. He was protecting Peter.

Peter clapped Neal on the arm, gave Neal a smile-which he returned like a true actor- and walked over to the other side of the room to speak with his agents.

It was over.

Neal started towards the exit once more, and Wilkes chose then to start talking again.

"I'm impressed, Caffrey. I was a little wary at first, 'cause you were a little too close to the truth, but you pulled it off well. I guess all lies have some truth in them, huh? Peter couldn't even tell."

"I guess there's no need to have your guys follow him around anymore," Neal stated straight-faced, while navigating his way through the crowd. He weaved in and out through people coming out of the nearest exit where a plane had just landed, and kept getting blocked from passing. Wilkes just chuckled and fell quiet. It was a little unnerving.

Neal was left alone in his thoughts for a few minutes. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, since his mind had an entire battle going on inside of it. One side was based in the belief that he was saving Peter and Lindsay's life by lying, and the other was opposed, saying that Peter would never trust him again. They already had trust issues, and this was sure to ruin what little they had already. But... Peter would understand in a situation like this, wouldn't he? What Neal was doing wasn't even that bad! Yet... He could only hope that Wilkes wouldn't keep forcing more and more stunts like this. Eventually it would all end, and things would go back to normal.

At least, that's what he told himself.

"Hey Neal, It looks like we might have a little... change in plans," the voice in his ear said suddenly. "As it turns out, Loze is coming out a little earlier than expected. I'm guessing that you have about... two minutes to reach that exit, or else we shoot Peter. So... Go!"

Before Neal comprehended what had been said, he was running.

The exit was all the way on the opposite side of the airport, and he was supposed to have a full ten more minutes to get there. Neal was almost positive that Wilkes was doing this just to see him struggle, but he couldn't take that chance of missing Loze and Peter dying. People were knocked aside and scrambled to get out of the way as Neal full-out sprinted through the crowd. He looked down at his watch. He had just over a minute and a half to-

WHAM

Neal ran full speed into a small man with a hat on over a blond... toupee?

"Neal?!" Mozzie said.

Neal's eyes widened a fraction. In normal circumstances, this would've been a perfect opportunity to pass on a message.

But these weren't normal circumstances, and Neal only had roughly one minute and twenty seconds to get to where he needed to be.

So Neal merely stumbled back with wide eyes, shook his head at Mozzie, and continued running.

"NEAL!"


End file.
